Giant grass threatens America

An agricultural group in the United States will ask the US government to approve the use of Agent Orange to destroy giant pollen grass, a plant that is growing very strongly due to its resistance to herbicides.

For Jeremy Leech - a farmer who grew corn and soybeans near the city of Humboldt, Nebraska - giant ragweed was a permanent threat to the farm, the BBC reported. They are not only resistant to chemicals, but also quite large in size.

Last year Leech spent about $ 7,500 to buy herbicides. However, they do not kill the giant grass in the field. The grass 'choked' soybeans and reduced Leech's income. Worse, the grass pollen makes the 8-year-old's asthma more serious.

'When the pollen of the grass spreads, my daughter cannot breathe normally outside,' he said.

Pasture weed powder is the leading seasonal allergen agent in North America.

Thousands of farmers across the United States are facing the same situation as Leech. The most potent weed resistant plants are rampaging in their fields. Scientists identified herbicide-resistant grasses proliferation due to the emergence of genetically modified crops in the field since the 1990s.

Monsanto became the leading company in the field of genetically modified crops after releasing genetically modified corn and soybeans to be able to fight glyphosate, a herbicide. When cultivating these corn and soybean varieties, farmers only had to spray glyphosate once in the field. Glyphosate will kill all grasses, but it will not affect plants. Farmers quickly cultivated new varieties because they helped them significantly reduce production costs.

'Back then we thought glyphosate would do wonders. That thought was true in the first few years, because people could make the grass disappear completely in soybean fields' , Van Leech, Jeremy Leech's father, recalled.

But a few years later, weeds did not die after farmers sprayed glyphosate. They were so strong that many farmers sprayed herbicides 24 times but they still grew. Huge size, giant grass takes all the light and nutrients of corn and soybean plants. According to agricultural experts, if a giant plant grows in a field of 10m ² , the yield will decrease by up to 50%.

'For the past 15 years, I have constantly warned that if farmers keep abusing herbicides, they will face future disasters. Now disaster has come , 'said Professor Stevan Knezevic, an agricultural expert at the University of Nebraska.

Realizing the situation, biotech corporations believe that new genetically modified crops will be the most effective solution.

Dow Agrosciences - a company that produces genetically modified crops, pesticides and herbicides in the US - announced that they will release plant varieties that are resistant to two chemicals. One of the two chemicals is dioxin - a component of Agent Orange that can kill grass and leaves. The US military used Agent Orange during the Vietnam War.

Dioxin, consisting of about 80 types of substances, can cause deformities, cancer and dysfunction in humans and animals. Dioxin persists in the living environment and body.

'Using Agent Orange is necessary because super grass has appeared on fields with a total area of ​​6 million hectares. This is a safe and sustainable solution , 'said Dow Agrosciences.